The Bharatiya Janata Party has asserted that the >2011 India-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement is flawed and the government cannot bank on its support when the Constitution Amendment Bill to facilitate implementation of the pact comes up in Parliament during the budget session.
Last month, the Cabinet cleared the Bill to amend the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, 1974.
In his inaugural address at the BJP National Council here, party president Rajnath Singh said the pact signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Dhaka was one-sided.
Additional protocols for the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement, signed during Dr. Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011, require a Constitution amendment for ratification as these involve exchange of land in 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves on Indian soil.
Bangladesh has already ratified the pact. Indian enclaves in Bangladesh are spread over 17,149 acres, while Bangladesh enclaves in India are located on 7,110 acres of land.
The BJP chief said: “Under the work of exchanging ‘Enclaves,’ which the government of India is undertaking under Teesta water sharing, India will have to forego 13,000 acres of land while Bangladesh will have to forgo 3,000 acres only. The government is not answering how it will compensate for this loss of 10,000 acres of land.”
The principal Opposition has been demanding complete details of the land transfer protocols with tabling of relevant survey maps in Parliament and a comprehensive discussion before any step is taken to part with Indian territories.
Mr. Singh charged the UPA government with looking the other way on ‘Bangladeshi infiltration.’
He said that as per the Group of Ministers Report on reforming security system (2001), 1.5 crore Bangladeshis were in India and claimed that today the numbers swelled.
“The violence which has taken place in the last few months in Assam gives an insight into the challenges posed to the internal security of India. Now Bangladeshis are spreading in Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, apart from Assam… If the UPA government does not take this into cognisance and reins in illegal infiltration, then the northeast will be in flames,” he said.
